Modular filter assembly

ABSTRACT

A filtration assembly for removing machined contamination from fluid flowing through machine circulation system is disclosed. The chamber receives fluid contaminated with machine contamination from the machine circulation system having. The chamber includes a continuous track disposed adjacent a bottom surface of the chamber for dragging the machined contamination from the tank and depositing the machined contamination into a primary collector. A modular fluid filter is interchangeably disposed inside the tank and includes filtration media for filtering machined contamination suspended in the fluid flowing through the machine circulation system. The chamber includes interchangeable components used in cooperation with the modular fluid filter for treating fluid flowing through the machine circulation system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a filtration assembly used for removing machine contamination from fluid flowing through a machine circulation system. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward a modular filtration assembly system that is configured for interchanging various filtration components.

Due to the increasing competition in manufacturing, it has become necessary to modify manufacturing assemblies to produce different components on an ever-increasing frequency. Therefore, old style manufacturing facilities that are engineered to produce high volumes of a single product are no longer economically practical. A drive has ensued to engineer facilities capable of manufacturing multiple variations of different components without having to close a manufacturing facility for an extended period of time to modify the facility to produce a different product. While advancements have been made to achieve rapid tooling changes for producing different products, underlying technology necessary for that production has not been previously adapted for rapid transformation.

For example, machining operations used to machine cast or other formed metal parts are typically adapted to machine different metallic substrates, such as, for example aluminum or steel. Coolant and lubrication fluids are introduced to a machining operation to clean the drills and cores used to machine various substrates, remove the resultant machine contamination and cool the machinery, which is known to generate significant amounts of heat. It is necessary to remove the machine contamination from the circulating fluid and, therefore, a filtration assembly is introduced into a machine fluid circulation system that continuously pumps the fluid over the machine equipment. A typical machine circulation system includes filtration and cleaning apparatus used to remove the machine contamination from the machine circulation system. These assemblies typically include a chamber continuously filled with circulating fluid that includes a continuous track and filter used to drag contamination from the circulation system and a filter to filter smaller metallic shavings and dust prior to returning the fluid to the machine operation. Known filtration assemblies have not been designed to facilitate different future machine operations, such as, for example a filter initially designed and supplied for an Aluminum machining operation being re-used for a Cast Iron grinding operation. Typically this example would result in the customer requiring a complete new filter system designed for the Cast Iron grinding application. Furthermore, increasing a volumetric flow when additional machine operations are adapted to the machine circulation system, either a redundant or a larger capacity filtration assembly has been required. This has required scrapping existing filtration assemblies and replacing the existing filtration assembly with a new filtration assembly designed to meet the new filtration requirements.

The filtration assemblies of the prior art has made it difficult to rapidly modify manufacturing of processes using machine operations because the prior art filtration assembly cannot be modified for flexible machine operations.

Therefore, there is a need for a new filtration assembly that is easily adapted for flexible machine operations to prevent the necessity of replacing existing filtration assemblies in their entirety to service flexible machine operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A filtration assembly for moving machine contamination from fluid flowing through a machine circulation system is disclosed. The filtration assembly includes a chamber that receives fluid from a machine circulation system used to remove machine contamination from a machine operation. The chamber includes a continuous track disposed adjacent to a floor of the chamber for dragging the machine contamination from the tank and depositing the machine contamination into a collector. A modular fluid filter is interchangeably disposed inside the tank having a filtration media used for filtering the machine contamination that is suspended in the fluid flowing through the machine circulation system. The chamber is adapted for interchanging components used to treat the fluid flowing through the machine circulation system.

The present inventive filtration assembly overcomes the deficiencies of prior art filtration assemblies by being flexible and easily adapted for various machining and/or grinding or honing operations and the changing volumes of machine operations. For example, the modular fluid filter is interchangeable with either a gravity system or vacuum system for filtration of the cooling fluid flowing through the machine circulation system. Prior art filtration assemblies made use of fluid filters that are sealed to either the walls or the base of the chamber that receives the fluid and are not removable from the chamber without significant mechanical revisions being made to the chamber which are known to result in destruction of the chamber. Due to the modular nature of the present fluid filter, the assembly is easily interchanged between a gravity filtration process and a vacuum filtration process when a machine operation is changed. Additional components that are easily interchanged with the inventive filtration assembly includes heat exchangers, drying modules, clean tanks, additional pumping capacity, oil separators, coolant make up systems, and additional filtration independent of the modular fluid filter set forth above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be further understood from the following description with reference to the drawings that are not intended to be limiting, but exemplary in nature:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the modular assembly of the present invention disposed inside an enclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the modular assembly of the present invention with the enclosure removed;

FIG. 3 shows a partially fragmented schematic view of the assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a partial expanded view of one version of the modular filtration assembly;

FIG. 5 shows a double, modular gravity filtration assembly used for increased filtration capacity;

FIG. 6 shows a double, modular vacuum filtration assembly used for increased filtration capacity;

FIG. 7 shows a partial perspective view of a clean tank for use with a modular vacuum filtration assembly;

FIG. 8 shows a partial perspective view of the modular assembly having magnets disposed beneath a floor of the chamber;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic view of the components that are easily interchanged on the present assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a filtration assembly of the subject invention is generally shown at 10. The filtration assembly 10 is enclosed in a housing 12, which is delivered as a complete filtration module to a manufacturing facility used to machine metallic objects into a dimensionally correct configuration as is known to those of skill in the art. The housing 12 includes access doors 14 to provide access to various components of the assembly 10, as will be explained further hereinbelow. The filtration assembly 10 receives fluid 15 through inlet 13 from a machining operation (not shown). The fluid 15 is contaminated with dust and machinings drilled and shaved from the various metallic components being manufactured in the facility. The inlet 13 introduces the fluid 15 to a chamber 16 as is more clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The chamber 16 is continuously filled with contaminated fluid 15 during production. Referring now to FIG. 3, a side wall of the chamber 16 has been removed from the chamber 16 for clarity. A continuous track 20 is positioned adjacent a bottom surface or floor 22 of the chamber 16. The continuous track 20 is driven by track motor 24 (FIGS. 1 and 2) and includes a plurality of spaced braces 26 that drag machine contamination 19 that has descended through the fluid 15 to the floor 22 of the chamber 16. The contamination 19 is removed by the continuous tracks 20 through outlet 28 and deposited into a primary collector 18. It should be apparent to those of skill in the art that the continuous track 20 is driven in an endless loop to continuously remove contamination from the floor 22 of the chamber 16. It should also be apparent that the fluid level is spaced below the outlet 28 of the chamber 16 to prevent fluid from spilling out of the chamber 16 through the outlet 28.

FIG. 3 also shows additional modular components that are included at the discretion of the end user. For example, a magnetic separator 29 is installed as a module when the machine operation includes both magnetic, ferrous material and non-magnetic material, such as, for example, aluminum. In this example, it is necessary to separate the magnetic material from the non-magnetic material. Therefore, the chamber 16 is configured to receive the magnetic separator at the time the machine operation is revised. A further modular addition is a media addition kit 31 which proved additional media filtration when desired. Similar to the magnetic separator, the media addition kit 31 is delivered as a module at the time it is determined by the end user that additional filtration is required.

A modular gravity filter 30 is disposed inside the chamber 16. The modular gravity filter 30 includes filtration media 32 that is disposed in a continuous loop and is driven by filtration motor 34 as will be explained further below. Machining dust and low mass contamination known to float in the fluid disposed inside the chamber 16 is filtered through the filtration media 32 so that clean, or substantially clean, filtered fluid only exits from the chamber 16 through a filter outlet 28 for either further processing or direct return to the machine operation. The modular design of the subject invention provides the ability for the end-user to select between the direct return of the fluid 15 to the machine operation or the further processing and filtration of the fluid 15.

FIG. 4 shows a more detailed view of the modular filter 30 to enhance clarification. The filter media 32 is stretched around filter frame 38. The modular filter 30 is sealed on opposing sides by opposing seal plates 40 independently from the structure comprising the chamber 16. The seal plates 40 prevent fluid from entering an interior 42 of the modular filter 30 except through the filtration media 32. The seal plates 40 include an outlet coupling 44 that mates to a sidewall 46 of the chamber 16. The filtration motor 34 is positioned atop the modular filter 30 and is contemplated to be located outside the chamber 16 to prevent contact with the fluid and to facilitate maintenance. Rotation of the continuous filter media 32 ensures that a portion of the filter media 32 is positioned above the fluid level so that the filtered media 32 is easily cleaned by a washer (not shown) or other method to prevent fouling of the filter media 32 with machine contamination 19.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative modular filter 48 having a plurality of filter units 50 used to increase volumetric flow rate through the alternative modular filter 48 for increased machining capacity. The alternative modular filter 48 simply replaces the filter 30 when increased capacity is required. The primary mechanical work required to increase filtration capacity by way of addition of the alternative modular filter 48 is to disconnect the coupling 44 from the sidewall 46 of the chamber 16 and reconnect the outlet coupling 44 of the alternative modular filter 48 to the sidewall 46 of the chamber 16. The modularity of the alternative modular filter 48 increases the capacity of the filter by two times previously unattainable by known prior art filters without major mechanical reconstruction.

A modular vacuum filter is generally shown at 52 of FIG. 6. As set forth above, the unique modular characteristics of the inventive assembly 10 provides the ability to achieve vacuum filtration from the assembly 10 originally designed for gravity filtration without requiring substantive mechanical alteration to the chamber 16. The modular vacuum filter 52 merely replaces the modular gravity filter 30 via a disconnect of the outlet coupling 44 to remove the modular filter 30 in favor of the modular vacuum filter 52. Once the modular gravity filter 30 is removed, the modular vacuum filter 52 is inserted into the chamber 16 and the modular vacuum filter coupling 54 is connected to the sidewall 46 of the chamber 16. The vacuum filter 52 shown in FIG. 6 includes a seal member 56 that is disposed below the fluid level in the chamber 16 allowing a pump 57 (FIG. 7) to draw a vacuum inside the modular vacuum filter 52. It should be understood that the modular vacuum filter 52 shown in FIG. 6 is represented as having a plurality of vacuum filter units 60. However, it is contemplated by the inventor that a single filter unit 60 may also be used to support lower required filtration capacity. It should also be understood that the pump 57 is also used to pump clean fluid from the interior 42 of the gravity filter 30. Furthermore, the pump 57 is fixedly attached to the sidewall 46 of the chamber 16 for ease of assembly.

As shown in FIG. 7, a clean tank 62 is easily affixed to the vacuum outlet 64 when modular vacuum filter 52 is installed in the chamber 16. As should be understood by those of skill in the art, the modular vacuum filter 52 is sealed from the pump 57 when cleaning filtration media 32. Therefore, the pump 57 draws clean fluid from the clean tank 62 so that manufacturing may continue while cleaning the filtration media 32 of the modular vacuum filter 52. During the cleaning cycle, a valve (not shown) positioned between the modular vacuum filter 52 and the pump 57 is closed and a second valve (not shown) positioned between the clean tank 62 and the pump is opened. The clean tank 62 siphons clean fluid from the assembly 10 as is known to those of skill in the art.

Referring again to FIG. 2, various other components that may be optionally added to the assembly 10 are shown disposed upon assembly platform 66. In this example, a redundant filtration assembly 68 receives fluid from the modular gravity filter 30 or the modular vacuum filter 52 for additional cleaning via pump 57. The redundant filter assembly 68 discharges contaminates 19 into filter 69 which makes use of media paper 70 through which clean fluid is poured. A redundant collector 72 is positioned adjacent the collector 18 so that maintenance crews can easily empty the collector 18 and the redundant collector 72 simultaneously. An optional heat exchanger 74 is connected to an outlet header 75 or other coupling (not shown) to either heat or cool the fluid flowing through the assembly 10 as required. The assembly platform 66 also secures a control unit 78 used to provide electronic control to the assembly 10. It should be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that any additional component required for adequate filtration not discussed above is affixed to the assembly platform 66, including but not limited to, oil separators, fluid make up systems, etc.

One method of fabricating the assembly 10 is to prepare the platform 66 and fully assemble the chamber 16 by installing the desired modular components. Once the chamber 16 and components are assembled, the chamber 16 is fixedly attached to the platform 66. For example, the pump 57 is mounted to the chamber wall 46 via a platform 66 and prior to fixedly attaching the chamber 16 to the platform 66.

A still further enhancement to the assembly 10 is represented in FIG. 8. The floor 22 of the chamber 16 is spaced from the assembly platform 66 providing a receptacle 78, and is always manufactured from Stainless Steel irrelevant of the machining operation. This is to facilitate A plurality of magnets 80 disposed on a tray 81 having rollers 82 are optionally inserted into the receptacle 78 when the assembly 10 is used to filter contamination having magnetic properties. The magnets 80 draw the magnetic contamination to the floor 22 of the chamber 16 enhancing the ability of the continuous track 20 to remove the contamination from the chamber 16 as explained above. To further force contamination to the floor 22 of the chamber 16, a baffle 84 is optionally secured between the inlet 13 and the modular vacuum filter 52 as shown in FIG. 3. The baffle 84 may be used with or without the magnets 80.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the various modular components that are added or removed from the assembly 10 to meet the flexible manufacturing needs of the end user. The platform 66 to which the chamber 16 is affixed is designed receive each of the modular components identified in FIG. 9, including a man-davit 84 to assist maintenance, the media addition kit 31 having partial flow magnets 86, modular filters 30, 48, 52, the clean tank 62 for use with the modular vacuum filter 48, one or more heat exchangers 74, full flow magnets 80 for use with ferrous machine operations, a complete pump out module 88, media polish filter 90 and secondary filters 68 for providing additional filtration. The list of modular components is not exhaustive, but exemplary. Other modular components are included a the discretion of the end user including, but not limited to a back-up sentinel filter, future media, a mist extraction module, a high pressure system, and a spray bar.

The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, wherein reference numerals are merely for convenience and are not to be in any way limiting, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. 

1. A filtration assembly for removing machined contamination from fluid flowing through machine circulation system, comprising: a chamber receiving fluid from the machine circulation system having machined contamination disposed therein, said chamber including a continuous track disposed adjacent a bottom surface of said chamber for dragging the machined contamination from said tank thereby depositing the machined contamination into a primary collector; a modular fluid filter interchangeably disposed inside said tank having a filtration media for filtering machining contamination suspended in the fluid flowing through the machine circulation system; and said chamber having interchangeable components used in cooperation with said modular fluid filter for treating fluid flowing through the machine circulation system.
 2. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said modular fluid filter comprises one of a gravity filter or a vacuum filter.
 3. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said modular fluid filter comprises a continuous filter media through which filtered fluid flows for return to the machine circulation system.
 4. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said modular fluid filter comprises a plurality of filter units, each being interchangeable with different of said modular fluid filters.
 5. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said modular fluid filter is sealable independently from said chamber thereby limiting fluid disposed inside said chamber to pass through a continuous filter media.
 6. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said chamber includes chamber walls having fittings thereby adapting said chamber for connecting interchangeable components used for filtering fluid flowing through the machine circulation system.
 7. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said components used for filtering fluid flowing through the machined circulation system includes a clean tank module, an oil separator, a fluid make up system, a control panel, a heat exchanger, secondary filters, and a gravity media filtration system.
 8. The assembly set forth in claim 1, including a platform supporting said assembly and being adapted for modular installation of components used for filtering fluid flowing through the machine circulation system.
 9. The assembly set forth in claim 1, wherein said chamber includes a floor spaced from said platform thereby providing a receptacle between said floor and said receptacle for receiving magnets along said floor of said chamber.
 10. The assembly set forth in claim 9, wherein said chamber includes an interchangeable baffle for diverting fluid having machine contamination disposed therein toward said magnets retained in said receptacle.
 11. The assembly set forth in claim 1, including a secondary filter disposed outside said chamber having a secondary collector disposed adjacent said primary collector. 